Cherry Preserves Ricotta Toast

These Cherry Preserves are quick and easy! There is just one simple addition that makes them tower over all the rest! Stock up on Summer’s bounty and enjoy all year! I spread mine on black pepper honey ricotta toast for an easy snack or breakfast.

I can’t eat cherry preserves with a spoon. That guilty pleasure is reserved for Nutella, peanut butter, and pasta sauce. (Oh, so that last one is weird?! Judgy)

So what to do with all the cherry preserves? Spoon a generous amount over black pepper honey ricotta on sourdough toast! Obviously.

You could use regular ricotta…but I’m Extra and I mixed mine up with some fresh cracked black pepper and a dollop of local honey. I keep a pre-sliced loaf of homemade sourdough in my freezer for just these moments. This particular batch was Smoked Paprika Sourdough. Imagine all those flavors marrying in your mouth…yup a little bit of heaven.

Last week was the last of the local cherries in NYC. Like little red phantoms, one minute they’re here and the next minute they’re gone. Overnight the gems disappear: First the tart cherries and then the sweet. Every single year I’m left a little sad at their departure.

I don’t play favorites with fruits, because Summer is magic, but if I did, cherries would be right up there.

I told you about my first summer in NYC, when cherries were gone before I even got started on cherry desserts. This year I vowed never to let that happen again. One could even accuse me of indulging in a bit of cherry mania [evidence on my Instagram lol]

I wrote you a little cheat sheet for making the cherry happiness last all year:

Step 1: Buy all the cherries; eat as many as possible.

Step 2: Make jam

Step 3: Pickle the rest

See easy as pie!

You know what else is easier than pie? These cherry preserves. Seriously so simple.

A little trade secret – keep the pits, wrap them in cheesecloth and cook them with your jam. They will impart a subtle depth of flavor. Almost like cinnamon. In fact, you can cheat and just add a cinnamon stick, but I like to use all the bits of the cherry. I like to think it makes Mother Nature smile.

These Cherry Preserves are quick and easy! There is just one simple addition that makes them tower over all the rest! Stock up on Summer’s bounty and enjoy all year!

Ingredients

3 cups Cherries, pitted (566g) [I used a mix of sweet & tart]

2 cups Granulated Sugar (230g)

Juice from 1 lemon (40g)

Cherry Pits

Instructions

Place cherry pits in a single layer of cheese cloth and tie shut with kitchen twine.

In a non-reactive sauce pot mix cherries, sugar and lemon juice. Nestle the bundle of pits in the cherry mixture. Cook on medium heat until the preserves begin to thicken.

To test for doneness, place a bit of preserves on a frozen plate and place back in the freezer. They should hold a line when you run your finger through it, but they shouldn’t run down the plate. Remove from heat immediately!

Carefully squeeze liquid from the cheesecloth pit bundle into the pot. I use a spoon to help because its hot!

Scoop into jars or whatever container you desire. You can also can them properly for longer storage. I just store mine in the refrigerator.

Notes:

I don’t bother to cut my cherries up because the ones in the farmers market are small. If yours are large, or you want a more homogenous preserve, then feel free to cut them up!

Cheesecloth: I use one layer because I want all that interchange of flavor between the preserves and the pits. Also the more cheesecloth, the more liquid is absorbed and I want all that cherry goodness in the preserves!

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Cookie Girl! Glad to see you blogging again. Commenting on here feels familiar and like the good old days again lol. Time flies! I love cherries. Never tried pickled ones before! They look delish.Miss Kim @ behgopa recently posted…What is the origin of kimbap?

Hey Girl!! I’m trying this (not so new) thing where I do it all! lol
Time really does fly! It seems like not too long ago we were both just starting out, you were telling me about culinary school and were a line cook. Then bam, you wrote a book, I’m a pastry chef. Geez!

Welcome!

I’m overjoyed that you have stopped by! This blog combines my passions for cooking, baking, recipe development, cookbooks, and American history. I post a smorgasbord of heirloom and heritage recipes, my personal creations, and modern recipes that are just too good not to share!